Mommies' Girl
by OnceUponAShipper
Summary: When Dani is sick, Emma feels left out of the equation. Regina is the one their daughter prefers. What happens when Emma is pushed to the side? SwanQueen!


**A/N - **For "EvilRegalTwinnies!" Again, feel free to send suggestions! I'd love to hear them! As usual, reviews are welcomed and appreciated! Enjoy! :-)

* * *

Daniela loved both of her moms equally. There was no contest between the two of them. They were her "Mommy" and "Ma ma." Except for when she got sick. Then she was Regina's daughter. Not by choice of either women. If anything, Emma was always a little hurt when flu season arrived, as Dani would always flock to her brunette mother.

One week was particularly stressful for the three family members. It started on a Monday night. Emma and Regina were curled in bed together, Emma's arms rested on Regina's slender figure. They were both shaken awake as Dani's pained wails bounced through the halls. Emma was the first one to the toddler's crib and flipped the light switch.

"Hey, baby girl, what's goin' on?" she asked gently as she bounced Dani gently, who's eyes were puffed; snot ran down her nose as she struggled to gain composure. The child's screams grew louder and louder until they shook the entire house. Regina came stumbling in a moment later, her eyes still half closed. "Dani's got a fever," Emma informed, the back of her hand on her daughter's forehead.

"Here, let me take her," Regina mumbled, her arms already out. The moment Dani melted in Regina's arms, her cries lowered until they were no more than distressed whimpers. "There we go, sweetie, everything's all right," the mother cooed. She drew small circles on Dani's back until she stopped sniffling.

Emma folded her arms over her chest and stuck her bottom lip out, the same way Dani would when she was pouting. "What-"

"Shh," Regina pressed a finger over her lips. Thinking that Dani had fallen back to sleep, Regina skirted closer to the crib and lowered her into it. But, Regina thought wrong. Dani was still awake and started fussing again. "Ok, it's ok. Want to sleep with mommies tonight?" She felt Dani's head nod up and down on her chest. "Come on, dear," Regina beckoned to an awe-struck Emma.

"So not fair," the blonde grumbled behind her wife.

Regina was the first one back in bed, Dani laid beside her. When Emma tried to move closer to the pair, Dani started crying again. "Mommy!" she gurgled with her arms wrapped around Regina's neck. Emma stepped back and the girl's tantrum quieted. She tried again to get into her bed, but Dani reacted the same way.

"You've got to be kidding," Emma grunted.

Regina couldn't see Emma's face in the blackened room, but she could hear the strain in the woman's voice. "Emma, she's sick, you know how she gets."

"Yeah, but-"

"No whining, dear, it's not becoming. Just wait for a moment until she settles and then try once more."

Emma resisted the sudden urge to stomp her foot as she crossed her arms. She had to remind herself that Dani was the child, not herself. Emma counted sheep in her head to pass the minutes until Dani fell asleep. When she thought it was clear, she made one more attempt to tuck herself under the covers. The moment she rested a knee on the mattress, Dani let out a distressed scream.

"Fine!" Emma spat as she tossed her arms in the air. "I'm going to the guest room. Lemme know how your night goes," she snarked as she galumphed out of the room. She found her way through the darkness and into the empty bedroom that was rarely used. With a tired exhale, Emma melted under the blankets and entered dreamland.

* * *

The next morning, Emma woke up having forgotten where she was. She didn't like leaving unconsciousness without someone next to her. It was lonely and cold.

As she roughly stumbled into her own room, she found Regina and Dani still asleep. She wanted to plop on the bed next to them and fall back asleep, but she knew Dani would have a fit.

Emma trod carefully through the space and pulled out a fresh set of clothes from their dresser. She made sure the duo was still asleep before tip-toeing into the adjoining bathroom. If she knew her daughter, which she did, Emma had only a few minutes to get dressed and make Dani's favorite "sick meal:" apple pancakes with a side of fresh applesauce. It was excessive, Emma knew, but what her daughter wanted, her daughter got.

* * *

Just as Emma poured the mix onto the pan, Regina, and a sniffling Dani, entered the kitchen. The scent of cinnamon grasped Dani's attention as she lifted her head curiously. Her pink cheeks balanced her dark, brown locks of hair and she never looked more like Regina than she did right then. Her expression of pure wonder enchanted both mothers.

"Someone's been busy," Regina commented with a smirk. With Dani on her hip, she wandered to the table and set the toddler in her high chair. Dani waved her fists in the air in hopes of being fed soon, her brown eyebrows furrowed inward.

Emma moved to face the two and she tried to smile. "That's me. Busy Betty."

Regina let out a hearty laugh, "I think you've been spending too much time with your mother."

Emma took cautious steps towards Dani, kissed the top of her head, and braced herself for impact. Nothing happened. Dani remained calm and still. "You hungry, baby girl?" she asked. Dani smiled slowly and Emma took that as a "yes." She swept past Regina and flipped the pancake in the air seamlessly. Regina's cooking lessons had been paying off. In seconds, Dani's breakfast was ready, and Emma had hoped her daughter's good mood would last.

Much to her dismay, Emma hoped wrong. The second she tried to feed the child, Dani's face contorted and her cheeks turned bright red. Her matching green eyes scrunched tightly as Emma approached her. She was about to cry when Regina took Emma's place, and Dani relaxed. Regina gave the blonde an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Em." It was rare that Regina ever referred to her wife as "Em," and when she did, it was said with love.

Emma shrugged quickly and turned her back as she cleaned the pan. Dani was just a little over a year-old, she knew that. It wasn't meant to hurt Emma, she knew that, as well. But, the feeling of your own child recoiling from your presence stung like a thousand needles to the heart.

* * *

For three days, Dani fastened herself to Regina and Emma watched. She felt as useful as a lamp post. Though she continued to make Dani's food and retrieve the medicine, when it came to the actual treatment and soothing, Regina was the one who handled it all.

The irony of the situation was, both women would have traded their right arms to switch places. Regina loved Dani, no doubt, but it was a tiring pattern. She would have happily handed Dani to Emma, had the little girl allowed her to do so.

Emma wanted nothing more than to be the one her daughter demanded. It was as though she were the cursed babysitter who no one liked. For three nights, she'd slept in the guest room; away from Regina and away from Dani.

* * *

By day four, Dani's virus made its final trek through her body. Her temperature had faded until it returned to its normal 98.6 and her cries occurred less often. It was as if the bubble that surrounded mother and daughter had burst and Emma was allowed back in. Dani no longer fussed when her blonde mother held her, and Regina was given the opportunity to sleep. The parental duties had evened out once more, and Dani acted as though nothing had happened. She welcomed Emma's touch enthusiastically, as if she'd forgotten her previous complaints. Emma didn't mind her daughter's obliviousness, as she was just happy to hold her again.

When Regina went to bed early, Emma took Dani to her room and rocked her in the chair. Although her voice wasn't as smooth as Regina's, Emma sang to Dani and it soothed them both.

_"I'd go hungry; I'd go black and blue, I'd go crawling down the avenue. No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do, to make you feel my love."_

Emma's voice trailed off into silence as Dani's eyes closed. Without jostling the comatose child too much, Emma nestled her into her crib; she pulled the blankets over Dani's shoulders and drew small circles on her back until her breathing evened out. "Goodnight, baby girl. I love you."

Thinking that Regina was asleep, Emma shuffled about their room and threw on her night clothes. In a graceful turn on one foot, she landed in her spot- the one she'd been absent from the previous nights. Emma let out a slow exhale as she closed her eyes.

"She loves her ma ma," Regina said quietly.

Emma's heart skipped a beat at the sudden noise in the room. As she turned onto her side, she edged closer until she was centimeters away from Regina's lips. "Her ma ma loves her."

Regina's eyes flashed open, and once they readjusted, she could make out Emma's silhouette in front of her. "It won't be like this forever. She'll grow out of it," she said. The couple had gotten to the point in their lives where they could practically ready minds. It just went to show how strong their connection to each other was.

"I know," Emma whispered.

"She's just a mommie's girl," Regina offered with a smile.

She could almost felt Emma's frown. "Yeah, but which one?"

Regina shifted her body forward just enough to kiss Emma's lips. With one hand over her wife's waist, Regina rested her body next to Emma's. "Both of us."


End file.
